GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team earned the right to host the 2019 Centennial Conference Tournament with a 7-6 win in Sunday's resumed game at Gettysburg. Starting in top of the eighth inning after the previous game was halted due to darkness, the Fords wasted little time as they scored in their first time up to bat before shutting down the Bullets in the bottom half of the extra inning.
Emily Reinstadtler and Julia Blake got the Fords started as each drew walks to put a pair of runners on with one out. Nicole Swisher reached on a fielder's choice which cut down the Fords' lead runner, but reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week Emma Souter doubled back through the middle with two outs as Blake came around to score the eventual game-winning run.
When Haverford went on for defense, Temma Levis picked up right where she left off in this game and seemingly all season. After conceding a leadoff infield single, the Bullets sacrificed the potential game-tying run into scoring position before Levis got back-to-back strikeouts to solidify Haverford's home field advantage. Levis finishes the regular season with a 16-2 overall record, including a perfect 10-0 mark in Centennial Conference games.
With today's victory, the Fords will host the Centennial Conference Tournament for the second time in program history. Haverford first hosted the Centennial Conference Tournament during its first-ever playoff appearance in 2006. Flash forward to 2019 and Haverford will be making its ninth playoff appearance this coming week.
After an approved changed to the tournament's format, the first and second games of the tournament will be hosted by the top two seeds this Tuesday. As the No. 1 overall seed, Haverford will host fourth-seeded Swarthmore. The start time of that single game will be determined on a conference call Monday morning. Ursinus rallied to beat Swarthmore by a 4-3 score in Sunday's other resumed game to claim the No. 3 seed. The Bears will travel to second-seeded Dickinson for their first playoff game on Tuesday.
When Haverford met Swarthmore back in mid-April, the Fords recorded a doubleheader sweep of their Hood Trophy rivals on the road with 5-2 and 8-3 victories. Haverford and Swarthmore have met just once in softball during the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Fords won that lone matchup in 2008 by a 7-3 score during an elimination game.